Mike Phillips, in his first start for nine months, skipped past three would-be tackles on the hour to score the try which sent the Ospreys on their way to a notable derby win and into second place in the Magners League. For the scrum-half there was no better way to end a year which has been blighted by a knee ligament injury picked up in March.

Thirty minutes as a replacement against the Newport Gwent Dragons just before Christmas was followed by this near full game. His performances are certainly a platform from which to claim back the Wales No9 jersey for the start of the Six Nations in Scotland in February. The Ospreys' coach, Sean Holley, said: "It's a big ask for a guy who has been out so long to be thrown back into 30 minutes of an intense derby with the Dragons and then a start in a game of this magnitude and to come out of it with a try and a decent performance is really, really pleasing."

Phillips' potential half-back partner in Murrayfield, Stephen Jones, was rested by the Scarlets' coach Nigel Davies. So were his captain, Simon Easterby, and Wales's hooker Matthew Rees, hinting the region were targeting their New Year's Day clash against the Dragons. He said: "We can't expect players to turn out week in, week out and give us top performance levels. Stephen has played more rugby than any other Wales player this season."

Holley said: "Only one side playing positive rugby, and we got our just rewards."